Tuesday, February 10, 2015

When is faith the easiest?

Today has been stressful. I’ve a major assignment due
soon, but no clue what I’m going to write. I have a topic, but no thesis statement,
no resources as yet found, and no ideas. I’ve been praying, but see only fog. I’m
not confident in myself, which is normal, but am concerned about my confidence
in God. Otherwise, if I trusted Him would I feel so stressed?

Isn’t it easier to trust God when all is well? When answers
come to prayer and when His guidance is clear and easy to understand? This is a
very common response as illustrated throughout the Bible.

During the Exodus, God gave the Law to Moses and “Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the
people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” (Exodus 24:3)

His directions were clear and at that point, they were
confident they could obey them. They repeated their confidence when hearing His
words read: “Then (Moses) took the Book of the
Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the
Lord has spoken we will do, and we
will be obedient.” (Exodus
24:7)

God also gave clear directions for worship and the
utensils for worship. He said, “And see that you
make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.”
(Exodus 25:40) The
people were enthusiastic and filled with great desire to obey the God who had
delivered them from slavery. They followed His instructions to the letter.

In the second reading, the love story unfolds with the
bride finally locating her lover, a picture of the bride of Christ, the church,
gladly moving into the presence of the Lord. “Scarcely
had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would
not let him go . . . .” (Song
of Solomon 3:4)

Isn’t this the way it is? We seek the Lord and when we
sense His nearness (even though He is always near), we want to hold Him close
and never let Him go. We want that special sense of His presence all the time,
along with assurance of His care and guidance. Yet for reasons we may not fully
understand, sometimes God is silent. Sometimes He does not answer our prayers
right away. What happens to our faith then?

So (Jesus) came again to Cana
in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an
official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea
to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he
was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and
wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before
my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed
the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his
servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the
hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the
seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus
had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his
household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from
Judea to Galilee. (John
4:46–54)

Perhaps Jesus was testing this man when He said the official
would not believe unless he saw Jesus do signs and wonders. However, the man
seemed more concerned that his son would live, so he ignored the accusation. But
it could have been true. I’ve been there. I’ve asked something of God that
seemed to be His will and seemed to be the right thing to ask, but in my heart,
I was testing God. Would He perform for me? Did I really believe He would? Or could?

I’ve been studying whether or not signs and miracles will
aid or produce faith in God. Can a Christian prove the existence of God or the
validity of faith by them? Or do miracles serve only to bolster the faith of
those who already believe?

It seems to me that in this instance the official was
sincere but not certain. However, he asked Jesus to do a miracle and when his
child was healed and the timing showed the healing happened just as Jesus spoke,
his certitude increased. He knew the power of God because of the miracle, and believed.
Even his entire household believed.

Is faith easier when God blesses and does what we want?
For some it might be. For others, a deeper faith manifests itself when
everything goes bad and it seems as if God is gone or not listening.

Job is the major example. He lost everything except his
wife and his life, yet he hung in there with God. He complained, argued, and
sputtered a great deal, but in the end, God commended him for speaking what is
right. The Bible also says he held to his integrity; his faith did not depend
on God’s blessings, but on God’s faithfulness.

At this, my tension is a bit lighter. At times, God jumps in
quickly to help me. At times, He has left me hanging so I could exercise my
faith and hang on anyway. He has been silent about some things for many years. Will
I still trust Him?

These silences and absences are not tests like those I can
pass or flunk. They are tests that prove something about God. From them, I understand
that the faith He grants to His people is not about how we feel, or about the
circumstances of our lives. Instead, it is about His faithfulness. He is my gracious
and wise God — all the time.

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All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)